Kiaora All,

Well the first week of the tour is down and one regatta out of the way. I debated sending emails after each days racing on the weekend but figured that an overview of the last weeks events would be more suitable. Namely because this better suits my particular level of typing skills and secondly as to ensure that I do not overload you all with the more mundane aspects of touring. Lets be honest no one needs a blow by blow account of my laundromat experiences, which is where I sit now writing this email.

So straight to the good stuff then, we won the first World Cup!!! Admittedly there were a couple of crews missing namely the Australians, the English and Canadians. However compared to the result we achieved this time last year the final was a much improved performance. I admit a little concern in the heat on Friday, where we lost to the French. I had visions of the Poland World Cup happening all over again. That was a very tough race, lots of lactate, never got a comfortable rhythm.

The semifinal the following day was a huge improvement, there was a strong tail wind for one thing, which means a quicker race and a lighter feel through the water and physically we both had plenty of reserves left at the end.

The conditions for the final were similar to the semi if anything slightly calmer. There was some plan discussed before the race where we tried to get out and dominate from the start (doesn't every crew try that?) and while that didn't quite happen we did get out the blocks in a reasonable position, only the French managed to get a 1 second lead. Though we were a length down, the pace felt sustainable.

It was an incredibly tight race, with four crews bow ball to bow ball with 500 metres to go. I looked across a couple of times in the second thousand and saw we were coming back at the French beyond them the South Africans had pushed right up and the Skelin's from Croatia were right there as well. Once the 500 metre came and went it was pretty much just a burn for the line, lifting every 10 strokes or so. I seriously thought we had the lead by more than showed on the footage but hey I'll take the win.

Considering we were straight off the plane, I'm happy with where we are at, there is still a lot of work to do. If anything we are going to have to train harder now than we did after Poland last year. There are a few changes from the last tour which should make the achievable. Namely we have much improved accommodation and food. In the past we have stayed in bunkroom style athletic hostels with nutrition to match. The results of the teams recently has meant we now have the funding to allow a better standard of living. While we still need to watch energy intake and meal timings, etc, it should be much easier to recover between sessions.

The team is back in Hotel Ve in Mechelen, Belgium now. We are training at the Hazewinkel course just out of town where the under 23's dominated last year. This is the 5th year I have trained here and it is a great course to prepare on... normally, I swear the rain was falling horizontally this morning. I guess I really should not be complaining though, Andrea makes sure to remind of how cold it is back home and knowing the Waikato I'm sure it has inclement conditions just to top it off.

The next World Cup is in Lucerne, Switzerland in 3 weeks time. The Australians will be there as will the British crew that won the first World Cup in Linz, so it will certainly be a major challenge. But this is what this level of sport is about, a chance to test yourself against the best in the world.

Thank you for all your messages of support and congratulations, keep 'em coming, it certainly picks me up and is great to know we are not forgotten about whilst on the other side of the world. Oh and go Team NZ, 2-1!!!

Best Wishes,